Dining on Ashes

Terror from the Skies!, Part II

I don't want to have to tell the Colonel, "Sorry I stabbed your baby."

8

DEC/09

The heroes descend on the Squeaky Wheel, a waterfront dive casino. They learn from the owner, cantankerous old man Mr. Blintz, that Sasha Fix rented the basement of his nearby boarding house. There, they find trash and the remnants of a lab. Hidden among the rubble they find strange opalescent paints and an alchemetical lantern. Lighting the lantern reveals Fix’s mad scrawlings all over the walls and ceiling. Deciphering them tells her tale of “dying twice” in the Colonies and the outline of a sacrificial ritual set for tomorrow at dusk at the ruins of the Lighthouse. There are also several reference to " The Sleeper " and a strange symbol. The heroes are then attacked by two spider swarms, which they bravely escape.

The night and next day are spent in rest and preparation. Kothar’s contact at the Aerodrome has secured them the use of a patrolboat to fly them out to the Lighthouse, just in time for a storm to roll in. The heroes, under the watchful, slightly drunken, eye of Captain Jim, rise above the clouds and get a rare taste of clean air. They fight through the storm to reach the Lighthouse, finding Fix’s airship moored there.

Sasha Fix, the Cloaked Man, and the Infant Sebastian are on the top deck, as are a giant bugbear and some more goblin mercs. The heroes go full swashbuckler and swing down to the deck on ropes. The villains retreat below deck, while the PCs make short work of the goblinoids. With time of the essence, Grimloc smashes the hatch and they follow.

They next deck has been converted to a swampy pit with a walkway across it. The walkway naturally breaks free, tumbling Henry and Grimloc into the muck. They are promptly attacked by giant leeches. The beasts are hacked to goo, and everyone runs to the next level.

Here, this deck has been converted to a laboratory. While investigating the lab, six zombies smash out of glass cases and attack. After a battle that’s a little too exciting for everyone, the zombies and the lab’s Frankensteinian equipment are smashed. Found in the lab is Fix’s stash of gold, potions, books and notes; all of which are snatched for examination later.

The lowest deck, the ships hold and engine room, find Fix dangling the baby over an open cargo door and chanting in Abyssal. The heroes leap into action, fighting the mad sorceress, her cloaked henchman, and the last two goblin thugs. Fix and Kothar attempt to have a sorcerer showdown, but manage only near misses. Henry horrible burns one goblin with acid before they’re finished off with crossbow bolts. Rosie and Grimloc square off against the Cloaked Man; Rosie swings off a handrail to get into flanking position for some stabbing and Grimloc gets the killing blow with his axe. The Cloaked Man lets out a hideous death scream and collapses into a pile of rags. He is simply layers of clothes; and, at the center: a dead rat(?). Meanwhile, Bill and Kothar keep Fix occupied while Nakai leaps to the attack, tearing out the sorceress’s throat before she has a chance to monologue.

Henry climbs out onto the rigging to rescue young Leopold, who is cranky but unharmed. Captain Jim returns to tug the airship back to Ludheim. The Sebastians are happy to have their son back and the heroes are handsomely rewarded.